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Father's
Day Short
Stories for Kids
Printable Children's Literature

Father's
Day Short
Stories

The Adventures of Pinocchio - Chapter
2

In that very instant, a loud knock
sounded on the door.
"Come in," said the carpenter, not having an
atom of
strength left with which to stand up.

At the words, the door opened and a dapper little old
man came in. His name was Geppetto, but to the boys of
the neighborhood he was Polendina,[1] on account of the
wig he always wore which was just the color of yellow corn.

Geppetto had a very bad temper. Woe to the one who
called him Polendina! He became as wild as a beast and
no one could soothe him.

"Good day, Mastro Antonio," said Geppetto. "What
are you doing on the floor?"

"I am
teaching the ants their A B C's."

"Good
luck to you!"

"What
brought you here, friend Geppetto?"

"My legs.
And it may flatter you to know, Mastro
Antonio, that I have come to you to beg for a favor."

"Here I am, at your service," answered
the carpenter,
raising himself on to his knees.

"This
morning a fine idea came to me."

"Let's
hear it."

"I thought
of making myself a beautiful wooden
Marionette. It must be wonderful, one that will be able
to
dance, fence, and turn somersaults. With it I intend to
go
around the world, to earn my crust of bread and cup of
wine. What do you think of it?"

"Bravo, Polendina!" cried
the same tiny voice which
came from no one knew where.

On hearing himself called Polendina, Mastro Geppetto
turned the color of a red pepper and, facing the carpenter,
said to him angrily:

"Why
do you insult me?"

"Who
is insulting you?"

"You
called me Polendina."

"I did
not."

"I suppose
you think _I_ did! Yet I KNOW it was you."

"No!"

"Yes!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

And growing angrier each moment, they went from
words to blows, and finally began to scratch and bite and
slap each other.

When the fight was over, Mastro Antonio had Geppetto's
yellow wig in his hands and Geppetto found the carpenter's
curly wig in his mouth.

"Give me back my wig!" shouted
Mastro Antonio in a surly voice.

"You return mine and we'll
be friends."

The two little old men, each with his own wig back on
his own head, shook hands and swore to be good friends
for the rest of their lives.

"Well then, Mastro Geppetto," said
the carpenter, to
show he bore him no ill will, "what is it you want?"

"I want a piece of wood
to make a Marionette. Will you give it to me?"

Mastro Antonio, very glad indeed, went immediately
to his bench to get the piece of wood which had frightened
him so much. But as he was about to give it to his friend,
with a violent jerk it slipped out of his hands and hit
against poor Geppetto's thin legs.

"Ah! Is this the gentle
way, Mastro Antonio, in which
you make your gifts? You have made me almost lame!"

"I swear to you I did not
do it!"

"It was _I_, of course!"

"It's the fault of this
piece of wood."

"You're right; but remember
you were the one to throw it at my legs."

"I did not throw it!"

"Liar!"

"Geppetto, do not insult
me or I shall call you Polendina."

"Idiot."

"Polendina!"

"Donkey!"

"Polendina!"

"Ugly monkey!"

"Polendina!"

On hearing himself called Polendina for the third time,
Geppetto lost his head with rage and threw himself upon
the carpenter. Then and there they gave each other a
sound thrashing.

After this fight, Mastro Antonio had two more scratches
on his nose, and Geppetto had two buttons missing from
his coat. Thus having settled their accounts, they shook
hands and swore to be good friends for the rest of their
lives.

Then Geppetto took the fine piece of wood,
thanked Mastro Antonio, and limped away toward home.

This story comes from The Adventures of Pinocchio, by
C. Collodi [Pseudonym of Carlo Lorenzini]